Authors: Rosanna Leo
“A means to an end.”
Her head was spinning. How could anyone, finman or human, discuss ending lives in such a cavalier fashion? Had there been a seismic shift? Had the earth tilted on its axis? Nothing made sense.
Just Mack. Oh, how she wanted to see him again. To lose herself in his strong arms. To tell him she loved him again and again. With that thought in mind, she squeezed her finger again and allowed more of her blood to dribble to the ground.
As the finman drove her into the cave, he had no idea of the bloody trail she left behind. Beth saw immediately why it was so important that Mack have a path to follow. It was a dank mess of darkness in the recess of the cavern, and she was forced to cling to the finman. Every few steps she squeezed more blood from her digit, feeling like she was playing the lead in some disgusting version of
Hansel and Gretel.
She shoved her feelings aside. It was up to her to stay alive so Mack could find her and so she could bury the damn charm she was compelled to wear at her neck. God, how it itched!
In the meantime, the finman led her to his home in the shadows.
Mack and his brothers closed the distance to Hildaland, swimming with ease despite the long cloaks that would have dragged mortal men down. Keeping an eye out for any finny witnesses, they stepped onto Hildaland, wringing out the cloaks as best they could. Peeking out from under his hood, Mack eyed the barren landscape. There was nothing to be seen other than several docked kayaks and old human remains. Mack didn’t need to be a medical examiner to know the scattered remains belonged to human women, the ones he hadn’t been able to save over the years.
Anne might have ended up in such a place, and now Beth was here. It was unthinkable. Once again an image forced itself into his consciousness, a vision of the finman viciously raping Beth. He forced air into his constricted lungs and considered their next move. “There’s nothing here. Just old bones.”
Edan pointed. “Look, a cave. Eddie told me we’d see a cave. It’s the entrance to their world.”
“Perhaps we should inspect the island first,” offered Drummond. “In case there’s more than one.”
A scent teased Mack’s nostrils. A scent he knew but in a vague way. It rose up from the ground beneath them. He breathed deeply, forcing all other smells to the back channels of his brain. Without a sound, he dropped to his knees and brought his face closer to the soil and inhaled again.
It was Beth. Or rather, the tangy scent of her blood.
“The bastard has spilled her blood,” he fumed in a quiet voice.
Edan was quick to reply. “Don’t get excited. She might have nicked herself on something.”
“On what?” Mack demanded. “One of these old bones?”
“They might have struggled,” whispered Breannan, kneeling down to inhale and learn Beth’s scent too.
Fight him, love. Fight him
. Mack stood up and took a few steps toward the cavern. “There’s more over here. The scent’s stronger near the mouth of the cave.”
Jamie drew forward with the others. “There are bound to be tons of them crawling in there.”
Mack felt for the arrows under his cloak. “Well, I’d suggest you do your best finfuck impression then.”
Their faces obscured by their hoods, the selkie men entered the cave.
* * * *
It was actually a network of caves, Beth learned as her heart dropped into the soles of her frozen feet. What had originally looked like one recess was merely the portal to many others. They trudged through passages, each one seeming danker than the last, as she despaired of Mack ever finding her. Every few steps she depressed the flesh on her throbbing finger to continue her bloody trail, hoping she had enough blood in her body to continue. She was already feeling light-headed. In a perverse way, she was glad the finman was fond of dragging her because she didn’t think she could do it left to the devices of her own tired feet.
They finally arrived in a cavern that was larger than any other she’d glimpsed. There were a few torches lit here, hanging from walls that dripped seawater. For the first time, she saw what looked like an enormous tent city. There had to be hundreds of them, and Beth was pretty sure it wasn’t some sort of government protest. These creatures lived this way. Each tent was rustic, constructed of moldy fabric and dead tree trunks. And there were more finmen here, all identical to her companion in appearance except their eyes were yellow. They kept their harsh gazes trained on her, sending dreadful shivers down her back.
“Why don’t you have yellow eyes too?” she asked her finman.
He let out an unintelligible groan that could only be some sort of fin curse. Okay, maybe having orange eyes was a sore spot for him.
They seemed to walk for hours, maneuvering through the many tents. She watched and waited, wondering which one was his little piece of heaven on earth.
Just then they arrived at one that stank of dead fish. He yanked back the flaps and shoved her inside. Beth sprawled atop a prickly pallet that felt as good on the skin as a burlap bag stuffed with razors. She jumped back up again.
The finman tied the tent flaps together and rounded on her. “Disrobe. Lie down. Spread your legs.”
“I will not!”
He was before her in a flash and inhaled the air close to her neck. “You reek of him. Soon my scent will obliterate his.”
“He marked me. I’m his.”
“That peedie bite means nothing to me. You will bear my marks before the night is through.” He slapped her hard.
Beth held her stinging cheek with one hand and reached for her knife with the other. She just had to wound him enough to distract him so she could quickly put the charm in the ground. Then she’d make a run for it and hope Mack was nearby.
Mack
. Her heart lurched with the need to cry her lover’s name aloud, but she held her tongue.
Her adversary glared at her. “If you will not disrobe first, woman, I will. Behold your new husband.”
He dropped his cloak, and Beth bit her lip so her horror wouldn’t show on her face. He was a nightmare. A gaping hole, one lined with glistening pus, served as his mouth. His hard body was covered in fins and scales. There was a fleshy protuberance between his legs, one with frightful sores on it, and it was aimed at her. And always those copper eyes, glinting at her, thriving on her shame and fear.
How could she ever?
In one swift movement, he somehow gripped her blouse with those crazy fins and ripped it from her. He pushed her down onto the pallet and fell atop her. He sniffed her and spread the vessels of infection that were his lips. A long black tongue emerged, and he licked between her breasts.
He raised his head and laughed. “This will hurt.”
“No!” Beth was astounded at the battle cry that screamed from her. With all her might, she pushed at his slippery body and forced him from her.
Clearly surprised she was fighting back, the finman staggered, falling from her. Beth grabbed at the opportunity. She fumbled for the dagger and pulled it out of her pocket. Without thinking, she slashed at the monster, cutting him wherever she could.
She would not die in this place. She would escape and find comfort in Mack’s arms.
The finman rolled over, groaning. She lunged, cutting him at the back of his slimy knee. He screeched. Beth dropped the knife, wrenched the charm from her neck and fell to her knees. Knowing her life depended on it, she clawed at the rancid earth. She tossed the charm into the small hole and covered it with the loose soil. The howl that came from the finman was infernal. She almost felt sorry for him.
Beth breathed a sigh of relief, sure the worst was over. She turned to the beast.
He’d somehow made it to his feet and wielded her knife. Even as he moved, faster than anyone should move while injured, Beth gasped.
“No,” she said on a sad sigh. “Machar.”
He plunged the knife into her chest, perilously close to her heart. As he extricated the weapon, twisting as he pulled, Beth fell back on the pallet. As her eyes closed, she felt the remainder of her life’s blood dripping away.
* * * *
Like a crazed predator on the hunt, Mack breathed in her scent and realized it was getting stronger. Or was it because more of her blood had been shed?
They’d barged into dozens of tents, startling just as many dozing finmen. Several of the bastards had tried to get in their way, but the men had come prepared. The Kirk women had all offered up the contents of their jewelry boxes for this mission. Each time another finman got in their way, the men produced a piece of coveted silver. Due to the finman fascination with the shiny stuff, they’d all scampered after the jewelry that was tossed at them.
All at once, Big Ben thundered inside him. He stood still and concentrated on what the noise was trying to convey. He felt a searing pain near his heart and just knew things had turned ugly. Beth had fallen.
But she wasn’t dead. He wouldn’t allow it.
As his brothers distracted yet another group of finmen, Mack raced toward a tent he hadn’t yet breached. Her scent was everywhere. He threw open the flaps and saw his beloved as she lay dying on the pallet. The finshit hovered over her with a knife.
As his own roar of agony pierced his eardrums, Mack aimed his arrow and released it. The silver tips of his weapons were coated in finman blood, and it was toxic to another finman. It would only take one arrow to kill him. Mack loosed six arrows in quick succession, each one finding a home in the finman’s chest. “Take that, fucker.”
The finman let out a putrid puff of air and fell to the floor.
As his brothers raced into the tent, crowding it, Mack knelt by Beth and gently picked her up in his arms. She was so pale, and there was blood everywhere on her chest. Because the finman had torn off her shirt, he could see her wound had potential to be a fatal one. She reached a limp hand toward him, but it fell to her side. He noticed her bloody finger and realized she’d made herself bleed to lay a trail for him.
“Oh, Beth,” he whispered, kissing her face. “Don’t leave me.” He’d die without her; this he knew. If she perished, he’d welcome his own death with open arms.
And they had so much for which to live! They hadn’t even mated yet…
You need to mate with her
. Mack blinked his tears away and touched her cold cheek. “Beth, love, can you hear me?”
Edan wiped his own wet face. “Let her go in peace, Mack.”
“No,” Mack replied, his teeth chattering with anxious energy. “I can still save her. I just need to get her to the water and mate with her. If she’s selkie, she won’t die from this.”
Drummond frowned. “But mating with her in this condition, Machar? It’ll kill the wee thing.”
They were all looking at him as if he were insane. Was he? To consider such a ridiculous, possibly harmful, plan? Mack gazed down at his mate, willing her to open her pretty eyes and say something.
Beth, please. Don’t die
.
Her eyelids fluttered and blue orbs flashed at him. Her dry lips cracked open, and she made a small noise. “Do it.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, love.”
She reached up a small hand and clawed it in the front of his cloak. “Make me your mate. Hurry.”
He didn’t need any more prompting. Jamie and Breannan held open the tent flaps, and Mack stood and spirited Beth away. None of the finmen bothered to stop them on their way out of the cavern; they were busy polishing their new pieces of silver. Mack followed the blood path that Beth had laid for him and ran as fast as he could through the cave network, his brothers right behind him.
He’d make love to Beth in the sea, the traditional method of mating for selkies. If all went well, she’d become selkie herself. It wasn’t quite the romantic mating scenario he’d envisioned, but it would have to do. They could spend the next few hundred years making up for lost time and lost romance.
He raced out of the cave portal and rushed to the water’s edge. He found a sandy spot and laid Beth on the sand, trying so hard not to aggravate her pain. He felt for a pulse in her neck. It was weak, but it was there.
His brothers walked a ways down the beach to give him the privacy he required. Mack doffed his weapons and his black cloak, and goose bumps arose on his grateful skin; he was so happy to be rid of the revolting garment. Then touching her with reverent hands, Mack slowly removed her wet leggings and panties. The blood from her torso coursed over her skin, dribbling toward her legs in a grizzly patchwork. Banishing the horrid image, Mack concentrated on a vision of Beth, soft and warm, in his bed. He summoned the memory of her dancing to Guns N’ Roses and of taking her in the stone cottage. Somehow, under excruciating circumstances, he managed to get hard.
He leaned over and kissed her face. “Are you sure?” If he let her go now, she’d be reunited with her family and would see her little boy again. Maybe she didn’t want this at all…
Somehow, despite her lips being cold and blue, she kissed him back. “I love you,” she whispered. “I want … life with you. Make. Me. Selkie.”
Mack lifted her up and carried her into the water, hating that it must feel so bone-chilling to her. He positioned her upright, supporting her with his selkie strength, and held her under the arms. Thanking his stars for his superior treading ability, he maintained her in a position no human swimmer could. He nudged her legs open with his own leg and allowed his shaft to brush against her mound. He angled his head and brushed his lips against hers, softly, softly. “I love you, Beth. You’re my life.”
Mack eased himself inside her, inch by inch, so as not to hurt her. Once he was fully seated inside her, he wrapped his arms about her limp body and hugged her to him, moving for them both. And even though she had no strength, her body responded to his, grasping at him, sucking him deeper with each slow thrust. Her head lay on his shoulder, but after a few moments she began to moan in what he hoped was satisfaction and not pain. And despite the situation, she still felt so good.
He was meant to mate with Beth.
She reached up to hold him, and her fingers dug into his hair. That was a good sign. She was getting her strength back. Before he knew it, she was rotating her hips atop him, grinding her pelvis and whimpering in lustful joy. And Mack responded. His cock thickened inside her, and he felt the need for sweet release.